Babar Azam has ‘straightforward’ take on Saud Shakeel’s controversial dismissal
Babar Azam. Ollie Pope (Image Credit: Twitter)
In the second Test between Pakistan and England, the home team looked like winning the game and leveling the series. At one stage, the Babar Azam-led side had lost only five wickets and was cruising. However, the wickets of Mohammad Nawaz and Saud Shakeel changed the game completely. Notably, the latter’s dismissal was the controversial one in the game.
Talking about the wicket, Shakeel tried to play a pull shot against Mark Wood on a ball that was at waist height on the leg stump. The batter failed to connect the ball properly and the ball went toward the gloves of Ollie Pope. At this point, the players and umpires were unsure whether it was out or not out. The umpires referred the decision to the third umpire with a soft signal of out.
The third umpire stayed with the soft signal even though there was enough evidence that the ball might be touching the ground. This was the seventh wicket to fall for Pakistan. Eventually, the team lost the game by 26 runs and lost the series. After the game, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said that the team felt that Shakeel was not out.
“It costed us, we did think the ball touched the ground, but as professionals, we accept the decision of the umpires.”
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The ball that ended Saud Shakeel's fantastic innings. #PAKvENG | #UKSePK pic.twitter.com/kssvis9RdH
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 12, 2022
Meanwhile, for the first time since 1959, Pakistan has lost three back-to-back games at home. Early this year, Pakistan lost to Australia and went on to lose the three-match series 1-0. Months after this, the team has lost two games against England and is now staring down a clean sweep at home. This is something which dosn’t happen to home teams in current era.
